3,625,338 Shares in Macerich Company (The) $MAC Bought by Norges Bank

Key Points

• Norges Bank opened a new position in Macerich, buying 3,625,338 shares valued at about $66.9 million, giving it roughly 1.42% ownership of the REIT.
• Institutional investors remain heavily invested in Macerich, with several firms increasing stakes and institutions now holding 87.38% of the company’s shares.
• Macerich’s stock was trading near its 52-week high after a recent earnings beat and a new quarterly dividend of $0.17 per share, while analysts are mixed but have raised multiple price targets.

Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Macerich Company (The) (NYSE:MAC - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 3,625,338 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $66,924,000. Norges Bank owned about 1.42% of Macerich as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp lifted its position in Macerich by 2.4% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 15,162,075 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $245,322,000 after purchasing an additional 351,907 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in Macerich by 73.2% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 11,521,554 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $209,692,000 after purchasing an additional 4,868,844 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Macerich by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,608,318 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $122,008,000 after purchasing an additional 70,132 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its position in Macerich by 13.4% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 3,894,230 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $63,014,000 after purchasing an additional 461,351 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Macerich by 5.8% during the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,746,730 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $68,185,000 after purchasing an additional 203,828 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.38% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on MAC shares. Evercore set a $22.00 price objective on shares of Macerich in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of Macerich from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Macerich from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $20.00 to $27.00 in a research report on Tuesday. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Macerich from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Finally, KeyCorp set a $25.00 price objective on shares of Macerich and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $22.54.

Macerich Trading Up 2.0%

Shares of MAC opened at $23.69 on Friday. Macerich Company has a twelve month low of $15.48 and a twelve month high of $23.75. The company has a market cap of $6.19 billion, a P/E ratio of -33.37, a P/E/G ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 2.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.96. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $21.45 and its 200-day simple moving average is $19.56.

Macerich (NYSE:MAC - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.31 by $0.03. Macerich had a negative net margin of 18.22% and a negative return on equity of 6.95%. The business had revenue of $241.54 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $233.06 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.33 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Macerich Company will post 1.48 EPS for the current year.

Macerich Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be paid a $0.17 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 15th. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. Macerich's dividend payout ratio is currently -95.77%.

Macerich Profile

The Macerich Company NYSE: MAC is a real estate investment trust (REIT) that specializes in the acquisition, development, ownership and management of regional shopping centers in the United States. Headquartered in Santa Monica, California, the company focuses on high-quality retail properties, including enclosed malls, open-air centers and mixed-use lifestyle destinations. Since its establishment as a REIT in 1994, Macerich has pursued a disciplined strategy of investing in properties that serve strong consumer demographics and offer long-term growth potential.

Macerich's core activities encompass property and asset management, leasing, marketing and redevelopment services.

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